What if the disability support officer discovered, even before the first meeting, what an MDPH (France's departmental disability office) file doesn't always say?
A card slipped into the disability file folder, and Claire, the disability office coordinator, knows before the meeting even starts that Éloïse needs more time for exams and a computer to write, not a reminder about her illegible handwriting.
This case involves a 19 year old first year university student, dyspraxic and dyslexic, who discovers in September a university disability office she has never met, without the referent teacher who used to bridge the gap in high school.
The moment
Tuesday, September 8th, 2:30 pm, disability office on the ground floor of the administration building. Éloïse waits on a plastic chair, clutching the cardboard folder of her MDPH file, still creased from the summer's photocopies. She has just started her first year of psychology, in a university twice the size of her former high school, without a referent teacher to bridge the gap like before.
Claire, the disability coordinator, calls her in and skims the file before looking up. A card slipped between the MDPH certificate and the ID photo shows a discreet QR code. Claire scans it with the phone on her desk: the sheet states that Éloïse writes slowly and tires quickly by hand, that a laptop and extra time on exams make a real difference to her studies, and that it's better to assess the substance of her answers than her handwriting.
The meeting starts from this basis instead of a string of questions the file already answers. Claire notes down directly the accommodations to pass on to the registrar's office, without asking Éloïse to rephrase what she has already written elsewhere, and without a first meeting ending in an incomplete file for lack of time.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR for this case
A student discovering a university disability office for the first time needs the information to arrive before the meeting, not over the course of a conversation she might have to start over several times a year, with the registrar, teachers or the university library.
- A card slipped into the MDPH file folder handed in at reception, found by the coordinator while flipping through the attachments.
- QR printed on the cover of the course binder, shown directly to a teacher who grants an accommodation at the start of the semester without going through the disability office.
- A sticker inside the laptop sleeve, noticeable to an exam proctor who needs to check that specific equipment is authorized.
- A link sent by email to the department office, kept in the student file, so a different teacher each semester finds the same information without starting from scratch.
The rule of thumb: the information must be available from the very first administrative exchange, before the year starts, not after a failed exam for lack of an accommodation set up in time.
Ready-to-use text templates
Three templates to adjust to your own situation. They cover what a disability coordinator or teacher reads first at a first meeting: who is speaking, which accommodations make a real everyday difference, and what needlessly complicates an exam or class.
For the "Introduction" section
"My name is [first name], I'm [age] years old. I'm dyspraxic and dyslexic: writing by hand takes a lot of effort and time, and reading a dense text tires me out faster than a classmate. A computer and extra time on exams make a real difference to my studies."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: allow me the laptop and extra time provided for in my file, assess the substance of my answers rather than my handwriting or spelling, and send me course materials in advance when possible."
For the "To avoid" section
"To avoid: asking me to copy notes from the board in the same time as everyone else, commenting on my handwriting or spelling mistakes in front of the group, or assuming accommodations carry over automatically without checking each semester."
Conditions involved in this case
This case involves dyspraxia and dyslexia, two conditions that often overlap in the same student and make handwriting, fast reading or note taking in lecture halls more difficult. Neither affects reasoning or comprehension. The linked page details these conditions and the accommodations useful when facing a disability office or a teacher discovering the situation at the start of the year.
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Three texts (introduction, how to help, what to avoid), one shared QR code. When they scan it, the person reads what they need to know, in their own language.